By Marcelo Teixeira
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) – Beef production is the leading driver of agriculture-linked deforestation, accounting for 40% of all forest clearing done to open space for food production, according to details of a study released on Tuesday.
Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of beef and soybeans, is topping the list of countries that have cleared the most forests to expand agriculture, the study said.
Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden studied 184 agricultural commodities across 179 countries from 2001-2022, using a model combining satellite data and agricultural statistics to produce what they describe as the most comprehensive global survey of agriculture-linked deforestation to date.
After beef, the data show palm oil accounting for 9% of global deforestation, soybeans at 5%, maize and rice each at 4%, cassava at 3%, cocoa at 2%, and coffee and rubber at 1% each.
On a country level, Brazil was responsible for almost a third of global deforestation (32%) during the period, followed by Indonesia at 9%, China and the Democratic Republic of Congo each at 6%, the U.S. at 5%, and Ivory Coast at 3%.
In total, 121 million hectares (299 million acres) of forest were lost between 2001 and 2022, resulting in emissions of 41.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
The study noted that staple crops — maize, rice and cassava — together account for 11% of agriculture-driven deforestation, more than export products such as cocoa, coffee and rubber combined, and their impact is spread across the globe rather than concentrated in specific regions.
Martin Persson, one of the researchers behind the project, said the problem extends beyond trade, indicating that action is also required at producer countries, where domestic agricultural markets drive significant forest loss.
Although being one important source of greenhouse gases, deforestation for agriculture accounts for only around 5% of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions, the study said.
The researchers plan to expand the model next to include the mining and energy sectors.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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